Zerzan is Selected First Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University distance runner Sarah Zerzan (Sr., San Carlos, CA/Notre Dame HS) has been named First Team ESPN The Magazine College Division Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Academic All-District VIII for the second consecutive year, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). She was one of 10 players named to the Academic All-District Team.

First Team All-District selections are eligible for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team, which will be announced on June 25. Zerzan was chosen First Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America in 2006-07.

Zerzan, who competed in cross country and track and field for the Bearcats, graduated from Willamette this spring with a 3.94 cumulative grade point average. She majored in Chemistry (Biochemistry track).

She won back-to-back NCAA Division III individual national championships in cross country in 2006 and 2007. Her efforts this past fall also helped WU place ninth in the team standings at the NCAA National Championships. In track and field, she placed second in the 5,000-meter run at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 2007. She earned All-America honors three times in cross country and one time in track and field.

Zerzan set six Willamette records. In cross country, she achieved WU's best-ever times at 5 kilometers (16:49.4) and 6 kilometers (20:32.7). She achieved records in track and field in the 1,500-meter run (4:31.52), the 3,000-meter run (9:39.01), the 5,000-meter run (16:28.54) and the 10,000-meter run (35:20.17).

As a cross country runner, Zerzan won three NCAA West Regional titles (2005, 2006, 2007) and two Northwest Conference championships (2006, 2007). She took first place at the 2006 NCAA Cross Country Championships under wet and muddy conditions in West Chester, Ohio, with a time of 22:31. She won the 2007 NCAA title in 20:54 at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn.

She won NWC individual track and field titles in the 1,500-meter run in 2007 and the 10,000-meter run in 2008. She was limited to only two competitions this spring due to injury, but recorded an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 37:37.35 in the 10,000 during the NWC Championships.

CoSIDA District VIII includes colleges and universities in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and British Columbia. Athletes nominated for the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team were starters or key reserves with cumulative grade point averages of 3.2 or higher (4.0 scale). Each player was at her current college or university for at least one academic year.

Willamette has won six consecutive NWC titles in women's cross country to go with five consecutive West Region championships. The Bearcats have taken first place in the NWC in women's track and field each of the past seven seasons.

The College Division includes players in NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and the NAIA. The Bearcats compete in NCAA Division III and the Northwest Conference.

2007-08 ESPN The Magazine College Division
Women's Track and Field and Cross Country Academic All-District VIII - Complete List

Sarah Zerzan has been named First Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII for the second year in a row.